Dominic Miller Absinthe (ECM) Guitarist and composer Miller delivers power and subtlety in equal measure. Abetted by producer Manfred Eicher’s canny guidance and ECM’s flawless sound and studio presence, Miller draws on inspiration from painters of France’s impressionist period. His liner essay emphasizes the importance to his musical conception of works by Cezanne, Renoir, Lautrec, Monet and other impressionist painters. He credits, “the American imagination and vision itself,” for initially … [Read more...]

Dave Young, Lotus Blossom (Modica Music) Young, the bassist praised by Oscar Peterson for his “harmonic simpatico and unerring sense of time” when he was a member of Peterson’s trio, leads seven gifted fellow Canadians. His beautifully recorded bass is the underpinning of a relaxed session in which his swing is a force even during quiet moments. That is apparent beginning in the classic Billy Strayhorn composition that gives the album its title. With Renee Rosnes at the piano and Terry Clarke … [Read more...]

Paolo Fresu, Richard Galliano, Jan Lundgren, Mare Nostrum III (ACT) This third outing by Mare Nostrum continues the international trio’s close collaboration in a series of albums that has enjoyed considerable success. With three exceptions, the compositions in this installment are by the members of Mare Nostrum. It opens with one the French accordionist Galliano titled “”Blues sur Seine” for the storied river that flows through Paris. Among the pleasures of the album, which in toto is a … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke tells us that his Jazz Northwest broadcast on Sunday will present Maria Schneider conducting the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra. The program comes from his recording of the second of Ms. Schneider’s two concerts with the SRJO early this month. Her work has brought her five Grammy Awards, victories in many readers and critics polls and, recently, the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship, the United States’ highest award for jazz artists. Jim recorded the second of … [Read more...]

Atlantis Quartet, Hello Human (Shifting Paradigm Records) If you visit the Shifting Paradigm Records website in search of Hello Human, you may be startled to see the legend, “Name Your Price,” near a box with a dollar sign and an empty space waiting to be filled. In fairness, the offer has a notation that reads, “USD ($8 or more).” After a dozen years together, more may indeed be welcome to the members of this tightly knit quartet from Minnesota’s Twin Cities. Their intricacy and interwoven … [Read more...]

Gary Giddins, Bing Crosby Swinging On A Star: The War Years 1940-1946 (Little, Brown) Seventeen years following his initial installment, Gary Giddins continues the story of the man who absorbed and internalized early jazz values in the 1920s and became the most important popular singer in the world. Crosby retained that distinction until the expanding dominance of Frank Sinatra in the 1950s and then the advent of rock and roll. Crosby was a movie star whose early light-hearted screen work … [Read more...]

Wayne Shorter, Emanon (Blue Note) Although Wayne Shorter’s saxophone artistry and that of his quartet need no enhancement, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra shares the first disc of this three-CD collection. As always, the Orpheus is impressive for the precision of its musicianship, but the combination plods compared with the exhilaration of the second and third discs by the Shorter quartet alone. Recorded in a London concert, Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation, John Scofield, Combo 66 (Verve) “I Can’t Dance,” guitarist Scofield proclaims by way of his new album’s opening track. It may be the rare listener, however, who won’t be moved by his quartet’s rhythmic blandishments. It is difficult not to boogie around the room—or at least groove in place—as Scofield, pianist and organist Gerald Clayton, bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart expand on nine Scofield compositions that merge down-home verve with the … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Reunion 7Tet, (Rob Bargad & Others), A Field Of You (Barnette) Once a year, a band of musicians who go back a long way together gather for a two-night gig at Smalls jazz club in New York’s Greenwich Village. Nominally under the leadership of pianist Rob Bargad, on their last visit they recorded an album at the New Jersey studio called Trading 8s. Bargad explains that they chose the studio for two reasons: its rebuilt 1954 Steinway B grand piano and the recording … [Read more...]

Allison Miller and Carmen Staaf, Science Fair (Sunnyside) Pianist Staaf and drummer Miller pool their experience and talents in an album that also has superior performances by three guest artists with impressive track records of their own. Firmly established in the New York City jazz milieu, Miller and Staaf welcome bassist Matt Penman, trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens. The tune list encompasses several compositions by each of the co-leaders. Miller’s opening … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation, Emil Viklicky, Humoresque (NCML) Last spring Czech pianist Emil Viklický’ traveled from Prague to visit relatives in the American Midwest. Never one to forego a playing opportunity, while he was there he gave a concert at the National Czech & Slovak Museum & Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, one of several he has performed there for enthusiastic partisan audiences. With Viklický was bassist Petr Dvorský, a prominent member of the Czech jazz community since his 1990 … [Read more...]

Thelonious Monk: The Complete Prestige Recordings Any Monk collection without the Prestige dates is missing the pianist’s early partnership with Art Blakey, who is considered by many musicians and critics to have been Monk’s ideal drummer. As mentioned in the Rifftides Labor Day 2018 posting of their recording of Monk’s composition “Work,” this set captures the two collaborating in the Monk staples “Little Rootie Tootie,” “Bye-Ya,” and “Monk’s Dream.” The box also contains classic Monk … [Read more...]

Monday Recommendation: Luciana Souza, The Book Of Longing (Sunnyside) Returning to recording, Luciana Souza is inspired by poetry. The Book Of Longing finds her drawing inspiration from poets of two centuries and singing three new songs of her own. Bassist Scott Colley and Brazilian guitarist Chico Pinheiro accompany her, enhancing the album’s moods, using counterpoint as commentary. Both solo with distinction. Colley is notably effective in Ms. Souza’s “These Things,” which has a nifty … [Read more...]

Toronto Jazz Orchestra, 20, (TJO) Something drifting down from Canada that is far less disturbing than the smoke you saw in yesterday’s post is an album celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Toronto Jazz Orchestra. Arrangements by the TJO’s director, Josh Grossman, include an extended four-part suite in tribute to one of his inspirations, the 95-year-old bandleader and arranger Phil Nimmons. Solo high points in the suite are by the incisive clarinetist Paul Metcalfe and pianist Carissa … [Read more...]

Karrin Allyson, Some Of That Sunshine (kasrecords) Ms. Allyson’s songwriting ability surfaced early in her career. In Some Of That Sunshine, it is on full display; she wrote all 13 songs in the album. With her superb rhythm section, two star guest artists—and on one R&B-ish track a spirited vocal group—it sounds as if she had the time of her life recording them. The songs range from the sentimental (“Home,” “You Don’t Care”) to wry humor that references the me-too movement (“Big … [Read more...]

Charles Pillow Large Ensemble, Electric Miles (Mama Records) Whatever the title Electric Miles might lead you to expect, chances are that it wouldn’t be an album of non-electric big band music. A Louisiana alto saxophonist long since ensconced in New York, with skill and imagination Pillow arranges eight of the pieces with which Miles Davis surprised—even shocked—the jazz establishment in one of the trumpeter’s many influential next steps following the last phase in which he led a … [Read more...]